§ 22-3-3-7 — Temporary disability benefits; installment payments; termination; overpayment

(a) Compensation shall be allowed on account
of injuries producing only temporary total disability to work or
temporary partial disability to work beginning with the eighth day of
such disability except for medical benefits provided in section 4 of the
chapter. Compensation shall be allowed for the first seven (7) calendar
days only if the disability continues for longer than twenty-one (21)
days.
(b) The first weekly installment of compensation for temporary
disability is due fourteen (14) days after the disability begins. Not later
than fourteen (14) days from the date that the first installment of
compensation is due, the employer or the employer's insurance carrier
shall file a report of payment of compensation with the worker's
compensation board electronically and tender to the employee or to the
employee's dependents, with all compensation due, a properly prepared
compensation agreement in a form prescribed by the board. The
presentation to the employee or to the employee's dependents of the
check, draft, or electronic payment from the employer or the employer's
insurance carrier for the proper amount, drawn upon a bank in which
money is on deposit to pay the same on demand, shall be sufficient
tender of the compensation.
(c) Whenever an employer or the employer's insurance carrier
denies or is not able to determine liability to pay compensation or
benefits, the employer or the employer's insurance carrier shall notify
the worker's compensation board and the employee in writing on a form
prescribed by the worker's compensation board not later than thirty (30)
days after the employer's knowledge of the claimed injury. If a
determination of liability cannot be made within thirty (30) days, the
worker's compensation board may approve an additional thirty (30)
days upon a written request of the employer or the employer's insurance
carrier that sets forth the reasons that the determination could not be
made within thirty (30) days and states the facts or circumstances that
are necessary to determine liability within the additional thirty (30)
days. More than thirty (30) days of additional time may be approved by
the worker's compensation board upon the filing of a petition by the
employer or the employer's insurance carrier that sets forth:
(1) the extraordinary circumstances that have precluded a
determination of liability within the initial sixty (60) days;
(2) the status of the investigation on the date the petition is filed;
(3) the facts or circumstances that are necessary to make a
determination; and
(4) a timetable for the completion of the remaining investigation.
An employer who fails to comply with this section is subject to a civil
penalty under IC 22-3-4-15.
(d) Once begun, temporary total disability benefits may not be
terminated by the employer unless:
(1) the employee has returned to any employment;
(2) the employee has died;
(3) the employee has refused to undergo a medical examination
under section 6 of this chapter or has refused to accept suitable
employment under section 11 of this chapter;
(4) the employee has received five hundred (500) weeks of
temporary total disability benefits or has been paid the maximum
compensation allowed under section 22 of this chapter; or
(5) the employee is unable or unavailable to work for reasons
unrelated to the compensable injury.
In each instance, the employer must provide written notice to the
injured worker on a form approved by the board. In all other cases the
employer must notify the employee in writing of the employer's intent
to terminate the payment of temporary total disability benefits and of
the availability of employment, if any, on a form approved by the
board. In all instances the employer must file an electronic notice of the
termination with the board.
(e) If the employee disagrees with the termination or proposed
termination, the employee must give written notice of disagreement to
the board and the employer within seven (7) days after receipt of the
notice of intent to terminate benefits. If the board and employer do not
receive a notice of disagreement under this section, the employee's
temporary total disability benefits shall be terminated. Upon receipt of
the notice of disagreement, the board shall immediately contact the
parties, which may be by telephone or other means, and attempt to
resolve the disagreement. If the board is unable to resolve the
disagreement within ten (10) days of receipt of the notice of
disagreement, the board shall immediately arrange for an evaluation of
the employee by an independent medical examiner. The independent
medical examiner shall be selected by mutual agreement of the parties
or, if the parties are unable to agree, appointed by the board under IC 22-3-4-11. If the independent medical examiner determines that the
employee is no longer temporarily disabled or is still temporarily
disabled but can return to employment that the employer has made
available to the employee, or if the employee fails or refuses to appear
for examination by the independent medical examiner, temporary total
disability benefits may be terminated. If either party disagrees with the
opinion of the independent medical examiner, the party shall apply to
the board for a hearing under IC 22-3-4-5.
(f) An employer is not required to continue the payment of
temporary total disability benefits for more than fourteen (14) days
after the employer's proposed termination date unless the independent
medical examiner determines that the employee is temporarily disabled
and unable to return to any employment that the employer has made
available to the employee.
(g) If it is determined that as a result of this section temporary total
disability benefits were overpaid, the overpayment shall be deducted
from any benefits due the employee under section 10 of this chapter
and, if there are no benefits due the employee or the benefits due the
employee do not equal the amount of the overpayment, the employee
shall be responsible for paying any overpayment which cannot be
deducted from benefits due the employee.
Formerly: Acts 1929, c.172, s.28; Acts 1949, c.243, s.1; Acts
1974, P.L.108, SEC.8. As amended by P.L.170-1991, SEC.5;
P.L.258-1997(ss), SEC.5; P.L.168-2011, SEC.4; P.L.204-2018, SEC.3;
P.L.139-2020, SEC.2.